At The End of The Rainbow
by Aleia15
Summary: Iruka and Kakashi break the most important rule in shinobi life. Now they have to deal with the consequences. Kakashi/Iruka
1. Chapter 1

**At The End Of The Rainbow**

**Prologue **

"Iruka!"

Iruka closed his eyes annoyed at the voice calling him and increased his pace, the fury from last night's argument still boiling inside of him. It had been their worst fight since he and Kakashi had started going out a couple of years back, and it looked like it could very well be their last.

He couldn't care less at the time. He was still livid.

"Iruka!"

Kakashi's voice sounded closer, and Iruka walked faster, refusing to give into the urge to run. Next to him Izumo was keeping up, shooting questioning glances at him but not saying anything.

"I don't want to talk to you right now!" Iruka snapped, not turning around to look.

He heard an annoyed sigh at his back and that told him everything he needed to know. If Kakashi wasn't there to apologize, then he shouldn't be there at all, Iruka had been clear enough the previous night.

"Iruka wait and listen to me!" There was an urgency in Kakashi's voice that almost made him stop and turn around, but he didn't want to be the one to give in. That had always been the problem and he was fucking sick of it.

"No!" A hand reached him and gripped his shoulder and Iruka shook it off angrily. "I said I don't want to talk to you now. Leave me the hell alone!" He said, finally stopping his walk but stubbornly staring straight ahead.

"I think you should listen to him, Iruka," Izumo finally said softly, as if he didn't want to intervene but couldn't help himself.

Iruka shook his head angrily. "No. And this is not something to discuss in public."

He could feel Kakashi's anger rolling off him in waves, which made him dig his heels more firmly. He could be as stubborn as the prick when he wanted to, and this time, he did.

"Fine! Have it your way!" Kakashi finally said, his voice cold and furious. "It's impossible to talk to you when you're like this!"

"Kakashi, don't!" Izumo exclaimed, a note of something like dread in his voice. It was almost enough to make Iruka give in and look.

"Whatever, I don't care," Kakashi said, his tone as low and angry as Iruka's. "I'm out of here! I can't stand him when he's like this!"

"About bloody time, just get lost and leave me alone!" Iruka couldn't help but shot back before he resumed his walk back home, his blood boiling in his veins and his jaw clenched so hard it ached.

Izumo looked at him worriedly but didn't say anything until they reached Iruka's house. "You never even looked at him," Izumo said and there was again that note of dread in his voice. "Was it really that bad the fight?"

Iruka nodded, not wanting to remember the previous night's argument, how it had escalated from a discussion to a full blown fight in which they had been close to resort to violence. Things had gotten out of hand, and Iruka knew they needed the time to cool off their tempers before they were ready to talk and try to salvage what was left of their relationship. That was the reason he had been so angry before: it wasn't the time or place for them to resolve their problems, their emotions were still too close to he surface.

"You should have looked at him," Izumo said.

"Why?" Iruka snapped finally, getting annoyed at his friend's insistence. "So he could give me his _innocent_ look and sweet talk me into forgiving him again? Not going to happen, not after last night."

Izumo shook his head. "No. So you could have seen he was wearing his combat uniform and had a mission scroll in his hand."

Iruka froze, the anger suddenly deflating. Kakashi had what? _Oh shit. No way._ He rushed out, running full speed to the gate hoping to arrive before it was too late. No such luck.

He stood there, panting to catch his breath under Kotetsu and Shikamaru's disapproving looks.

"He's gone," Kotetsu said, "and he was in a rotten mood."

"You didn't say goodbye?" Shikamaru asked, though it was clear from his expression he already knew the answer.

Iruka closed his eyes and shook his head, cursing himself for a fool. "No."

"Pray he comes back safely and you don't regret it," Shikamaru said and Iruka nodded, walking away from the gate.

He was already regretting it, though he was still angry with Kakashi. Also, Kakashi had not said he was leaving; he had stubbornly clung to his anger and left like that.

Both of them were at fault.

He still prayed to Gods he didn't really believe in for Kakashi's safety.

…


	2. the most important rule in Shinobi life

**Part I - The Most Important Rule in Shinobi Life**

Kakashi panted loudly and leaned against a tree trunk, his surroundings swimming in and out of focus at an alarming rate.

He had screwed up, and badly. Story of his life, of all the times he could choose to completely fuck up a simple mission and get himself killed in the process, it had to be the one which would inflict the most damage to those he cared for.

He would have laughed if he didn't feel like crying so much.

He looked back, knowing his pursuers were already dead but still wanting to check. He was too badly wounded to cover his tracks properly, and wouldn't have the strength to fight if an enemy caught up with him. There was no one following him, not that it changed his situation by much.

He was about two days distance from Konoha in his condition, and at the rate he was losing blood he had maybe thirty more minutes consciousness ahead of him. He had spent almost all his chakra, and the fact that he was still standing was a miracle in itself. And there was, of course, the issue of the poison. If exhaustion, blood loss and chakra depletion were the issue he'd just rest for a few hours, close his wound as best he could-thank god for fire jutsus and metal weapons-and hope for the best.

But yes, he had also been poisoned.

It was almost ridiculous. What were the odds that, the first time in his life he forgot the rule, it was the time it counted? Story of his fucking life.

He closed his eyes, exhausted, and let his body slide down the tree and fall to the ground. He was burning up with fever, and each panting breath felt like a crushing weight was being lifted and resettled on his chest. He was wondering if he should enumerate his injuries, but it was useless.

And anyway, he did it just to avoid thinking about the thing that had not left his head since the moment he left Konoha almost five days ago.

Was that the reason he had screwed up this mission so badly? He hoped it wasn't, or at least that Iruka didn't think it was. He was going to be feeling guilty enough as it was for not saying goodbye.

Kakashi had known since the moment he had stepped out of the gate without telling Iruka he was leaving that he was making a huge mistake, but he had been furious with the stubborn idiot, and he had tried. At least, he had tried to tell him. But had Iruka listened? No, he never did.

Well, that was unfair to Iruka and Kakashi knew it.

He didn't remember anymore who was the one who started the argument that night, but Kakashi was aware that it had been him the one who lost his temper first. It had been his fault things got out of control, and Iruka had all the right in the world to be angry. It was just that, sometimes, Kakashi wanted to strangle him. He should have told Iruka he was leaving on a mission, but he had not believed it would matter. Nothing ever happened, and he had been too angry-with Iruka and with himself-to think clearly.

Obviously, something had happened.

Kakashi took a deep breath and focused his dwindling energy in just one last task. He gathered the little chakra he had and got out his summoning scroll. A few hand seals and the blood already staining his hands and dripping to the ground, and Pakkun was staring at him with incredulous eyes.

"Shit, Boss, you're in a sorry state," the mutt said as a way of greeting, and Kakashi snorted. Understatement of the fucking century.

"I know," he said, his brows knotting in concentration. "I've been injured and I need you to deliver the report to the Hokage. I'm already late as it is." The irony of that last statement didn't escape him and he smiled wryly at himself.

For once in his life, Pakkun had nothing to say. He just sniffed the air, his big wet eyes widening slightly.

"Boss? You're-" the dog snapped his jaws shut as if he wouldn't allow himself to say what he had so clearly smelled in Kakashi.

"I know, Pakkun," he said in a low voice.

Pakkun shook his head. "Do you want me to get you help? I can run-no, maybe you should get one of the others, I'm not the fastest around."

Kakashi smiled tightly at Pakkun's concern, useless at is was. "No need, they won't get here in time. And I can only summon you in this state."

Pakkun nodded grimly. "I see. You really fucked it up this time, Boss." There was no recrimination in his voice, just sadness.

"I did." He got a scroll from one of his pockets and passed it on to Pakkun. "I need you to report this to the Hokage:_Hatake Kakashi, mission success. Casualties: one._"

He closed his eyes, exhausted. Just that little bit of conversation and the summoning jutsu had drained him of what he had left.

"Do you want me to say something to Iruka?" Pakkun asked after a minute, and Kakashi opened his eye and stared at him. "I know you didn't-"

Kakashi shook his head, a wistful smile on his lips. "No. I don't want to be the only one to say goodbye. We let that chance pass; it won't help to do it now."

Pakkun nodded and left, running as fast as his short legs would allow him. Kakashi watched him until he wasn't more than a moving dot between the trees and closed his eyes again, waiting for the darkness to come.

_I'm sorry Iruka. Good bye._

…

"You were looking at her!"

Iruka startled at the angry voice in front of him, his hand clenching around his mother's more tightly. He looked at the source of the voice; a man and a woman were fighting loudly while they walked to the gate. Both of them were wearing jounin vests, and the woman had a scroll in her hand. He turned to look at his mom, who looked down at him with a soft smile and squeezed his hand.

"Look carefully Iruka, you're going to learn something important today," she said to him, pointing with her head at the couple.

"Look at that, Kakashi, and learn." Iruka heard another voice saying close by, and he darted a quick look. A couple of steps behind him and his mom was a blond jounin with a boy slightly older than Iruka, and both of them were also staring at the fighting couple.

The boy had his face covered and was looking at the scene with disinterest, though he _was_ looking at it.

The fight continued all the way to the gate, and by the time they arrived Iruka's attention had been diverted from the argument a thousand times in spite of his mother's warning. He had looked at the other boy several times, seeing that he was still following the boring fight, though he didn't look as if he cared at all.

The shouts stopped at the gate, and Iruka turned to look at them again. He blinked surprised when he saw they couple were kissing, and he scrunched his nose in distaste under his mother's amused look. Why did she want him to look at kissing people?

"Come back to me in one piece," the man was saying to the woman. It was as if they had not been calling each other ugly things a few minutes ago and shouting in each other's faces. Iruka was puzzled, and he could feel the same emotion radiating from the other boy also looking at them.

"I will, we still have something to discuss," the woman said, but she was smiling, no trace of the previous anger left in her voice and face. "I love you."

The man kissed her again. "I love you too, only you."

They parted ways at the gate, the man returning to the village and the woman off on some mission. Iruka turned to his mother.

"You never let your partner leave the village without saying you love them, and you never let them go away angry," she explained to him, kneeling on the ground so she could look him in the eye. It was that little gesture what branded itself in Iruka's mind; his mother always did that when she wanted to teach him something adult and very important. "Us shinobi don't have the luxury of living with regrets. You never know when the mission is going to be deadly, and you don't want the last things you ever said to your loved one to be something you might regret. Never forget this, Iruka."

He nodded, wondering if the other boy was getting the same lesson but too intent on his mother's face to turn to check. And then the gate opened and his father came in, limping a bit but alive and smiling. He rushed to greet him, and his father picked him up and enveloped him in a hug. Iruka's parents kissed, and this time he didn't avert his eyes.

That night Iruka heard them fight, the same argument they had four nights ago before his father left on the mission.

…

Iruka opened his eyes in the dark room, the last wisps from an often repeated dream still swirling in his head. One didn't need to be a genius to guess why he had been having that particular dream for the past five nights in a row.

He had forgotten the rule, just one time, and it had been haunting him since that day. He had been so angry with Kakashi, so upset for something he couldn't even remember anymore.

It had been their worst fight to date, that much was true. But it had been just that, a fight. Iruka had believed, even if at that time he didn't realize himself, that they would make up.

They always did.

But that had been five days ago, when he had refused to turn to look at Kakashi and they'd got again into a stupid fight in the middle of the street.

Since that day he had been regretting his stubbornness, and praying that Kakashi was all right and came back in one piece. His prayers were turning more and more desperate each day. It was supposed to be a fairly easy mission, the Hokage had said, two days away and a clean kill of a traitor.

But Kakashi still wasn't back.

He got up from the bed, knowing there would be no more sleep for him.

It wasn't so bad during the day; he was busy with the Academy and his shift at the mission desk. He'd even volunteered to help the Hokage with her paperwork. Anything to avoid going back home and drive himself slowly insane with worry. He could stand the whispers and the pitying looks thrown his way since the moment Kakashi's status changed from _On a Mission_ to _Missing in Action_ two days ago, the coldness he sensed in Kakashi's friends when they looked at him, the gruelling working hours and the exhaustion hounding his step. What he couldn't stand was his house with the echoing silence, the reminders of Kakashi's absence mocking him from every shelf and empty space.

Shaking his head to dislodge those thoughts, Iruka went to the kitchen and made himself some coffee. His stomach grumbled loudly and he ate a piece of toast which turned to dust in his mouth. He chocked it down with the help of the coffee and finished getting ready to work, avoiding to look at himself in the mirror as he did so.

He had another day of desperate prayers in front of him.

He hoped this time they were heard.

…

Even the students seemed to feel something was amiss with their teacher. His classes were strangely well behaved that morning, not one accident, not one shouting match in any of them.

It would be enough to make him wonder what the little hellions were planning, if he had any attention to spare for them.

He didn't. All his focus was on worrying and praying.

And he feared it wasn't going to be enough.

Even with the lack of problems, Iruka was still exhausted when he reached the mission desk. He had skipped lunch, his stomach protesting at the idea of being close to food. He was running on caffeine, which made his temper shorter than ever.

That was not a good thing, he thought with a grim smile. His temper was already short enough.

He sat at the mission desk and proceeded to give scrolls and receive them like an automaton, his eyes snapping up every time the door opened, only to look down to his task again once he confirmed it wasn't Kakashi the one who had arrived.

At some point Izumo entered the room and tried to take him out for a short break. Iruka refused, not sure of what he had told his friend to get him off his back, and not really caring.

He continued assigning missions and getting reports back, checking the door every time it opened.

"I've had enough of this!" a loud voice bellowed in front of him and Iruka looked up to find the Hokage standing in front of his desk, glaring darkly at him.

How had he missed her arrival? He saw Izumo next to her, and cursed his meddlesome friend to hell and back. Why couldn't they let him mope in peace until Kakashi returned? He knew this was just what he deserved for being stubborn and ignoring the rules, making himself sick with worry was a fair price for his lover's safety.

"Go home and rest, Iruka-sensei," Tsunade said, her tone still annoyed but at least not deafening anymore.

"I'm fine," he said, and was surprised at how rough his voice sounded. Hadn't he been speaking all day?

"You're not. And I'm sick of seeing you like this. It's an order, go home and rest!"

Iruka looked at the door and then back at the Hokage. "Kakashi might-"

She sighed. "The brat will be fine. It's not the first time he's late and-"

She stopped when the door opened, all the eyes suddenly fixed on the new arrival. Iruka shot to his feet, something like relief blooming in his chest. It was short lived, a quick look at the grim looking dog was enough to make his chest constrict in fear. Kakashi must be severely wounded if he had sent his summons to fetch the Hokage.

The mission room fell silent, only the light sound of Pakkun's paws on the floor heard. The dog walked up to Tsunade, who knelt down and picked the scroll he had in his mouth.

"About bloody time the brat appeared!" she said, and it was clear in her voice how relieved she was. "I guess he's exhausted himself again and I need to patch him up. Well, let's go to the hospital. Iruka-sensei, you're coming with me."

"Wait," Pakkun said, and everyone froze. "That's not necessary. This is the Boss Mission Report: Hatake Kakashi, mission success. Casualties: one."

…


	3. Consequences

**Part II - Consequences**

"Hey Kankuro, look at this!"

Kankuro glanced at the spot his comrade was pointing at, his brow furrowing at the sight as he approached it.

There were three bodies on the ground, clearly dead and already cooling. They had no distinguishing features, nothing that would mark them as shinobi or, more likely, missing nin. However, the way the bodies were strewn on the floor and the wounds on them left little doubt about how they had died.

"Wow, someone had one hell of fight here," Kankuro said impressed, images about what might have happened already forming on his head. There were scorch marks from a fire jutsu on one of the bodies, a kunai embedded in the chest of another one. The amount of blood splattered around the clearing was startling and Kankuro's frown deepened.

There were four sets of footprints. Those three had been killed by just one person.

"Whoever they were," he said to Yuriko, the medic-nin accompanying him and who was checking the bodies for clues or maybe a pulse, "just burn the bodies, they've been dead for a while."

"Not that long, maybe a few hours," she said, her voice tinged with curiosity. "And whoever did this must be close by. I'd say also dead considering how much blood they're losing. Do you want me to check it?"

Kankuro was tempted to say no and just continue their way, his own mission had been long and gruelling and he wanted to be back home and rest for a while. He knew there weren't any Suna shinobi in that area, so it was unlikely it was one of theirs, but there was something niggling in the back of his mind, some feeling telling him to check. They were a day or so from Konoha, so the chances of the last one being a Konoha shinobi were high, and Naruto would not forgive him if he didn't check.

And Gaara would kill Kankuro if he made Naruto upset.

"Yes, let's follow the trail and see if we find the last one."

They did find the last one after an hour following the bloody trail, Yuriko wondering aloud all the time what kind of person was able to move that much while bleeding to dead. Kankuro had the feeling he knew the answer to that and he wished he was wrong. He had seen the charred hole in one of the bodies and knew only one person who used that jutsu and was able to kill three people on his own.

"There he is!" Yuriko said, rushing to the figure slumped against a tree and Kankuro closed his eyes, his heart clenching. He hated being right, especially because he didn't know how the hell he was supposed to break the news to Naruto. "I think he might still be breathing."

Kankuro snapped his eyes open, a rush of hope swelling inside of him until he saw Yuriko taking a kunai from her pouch and pressing it against the man's throat.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he exclaimed, shocked.

"Mercy," she deadpanned and Kankuro felt his blood freeze in his veins.

"Didn't you just say he was breathing?"

She turned to look at him, her forehead creased in a frown. "He's almost dead, there is nothing I can do for him in this condition but end his suffering. I can smell poison on his wound and he's lost too much blood. I don't know how he's survived this far, but he's going to be dead by nightfall." She stated calmly, her eyes sad but determined. "I'm going to put him out of his misery and burn the body, like I would do for one of my own. He's Konoha, so he's an ally. He deserves it."

Kankuro rushed to her and stopped her hand. "You can't do that, we have to save him," he said, his voice strangely rough. He could remember clearly the feeling of waking up in the hospital in Suna and looking at Naruto and his teacher. The gratitude he had felt and the hope that they would bring his brother back.

A proper shinobi burial was not the right way to repay that gratitude. Not to them.

"He's too far gone," Yuriko insisted, trying to dislodge her arm and deal the finishing blow. It would be a mercy, Kankuro knew, but he wouldn't let it end that way. "He's in pain and nothing good will come of it."

Kankuro shook his head. "You don't know who this is, we can't let him die."

She shot him a sharp look. "Who is he?"

"He's the one who brought Gaara back that time, Hatake Kakashi." He saw the light of understanding entering her eyes, replaced immediately by an infinite sadness.

"I'm not skilled enough, not for his injuries." But she wasn't trying to move anymore, not trying to give him mercy. "I can't save him."

"What would you do if it was Gaara?" Kankuro asked, her hesitation giving him hope there was something she could do, some desperate measure they could take.

Yuriko took a deep breath, visibly steeling her resolve. "There is something-chances are it will blow up on our faces and do more harm than good. I've never done it before, but there is a jutsu I learned-" She shook her head, her reluctance clear to Kankuro. "He's suffering and there is no guarantee it will work, it would be better to let him rest, but it might buy us time to get help."

Kankuro nodded. "Do it. We're a couple of hours away from a safe house." Kankuro pulled the knowledge of the terrain from his brain and considered his options. Suna was closer than Konoha form the safe house though he'd much rather rely on Tsunade's medical skills. They would need to dispatch summons to both Villages and hope for the best. "Stabilize him and we'll move him there, then we'll get help."

…

Iruka opened his eyes groggily, the heaviness he felt telling him he had slept for longer than he used to. It always happened when he exhausted himself working too much, the day he finally had the time to sleep, he felt slow and dim-witted.

He yawned, stretching on the bed and trying to remember how the hell he got home and why hadn't he slept properly before. Kakashi was going to be on his case for that.

_Kakashi._

Reality crashed on him like a tsunami, stealing his breath and forcing him to close his eyes again. He wanted to go back to sleep for a long, long time. Forever, if at all possible.

Kakashi wasn't going to be on his case, or anyone else's, ever again. And it was all Iruka's fault.

He remembered now. Pakkun's report, the silence that fell over the mission room, Tsunade's shocked expression. Iruka had heard the words, his mind processing them with the slowness of deep exhaustion. He had fallen on his chair again, slumping against the back and sighing.

"Well, I guess I can stop waiting now and go to sleep," he had said, breaking the silence. Everyone turned to look at him, the horror in their eyes almost comical. Iruka would have said something then, something to make clear he wasn't as callous as his words implied, but his brain had collapsed at Pakkun's words and he wasn't thinking clearly.

He had been running on adrenaline for the past five days, and now it was evident the worst had come to happen, his body was demanding payment for services rendered.

He was fast asleep before he even had a chance to move from his uncomfortable  
chair.

Someone must have taken him to his house.

"Iruka."

He opened his eyes again to find Tsunade staring down at him, her concern plainly written on her face. She looked as if she had aged twenty years in the last few hours, deep lines of sorrow marring her pretty features. Iruka felt his eyes stinging at the pain and loss he saw reflected in her eyes, mirroring perfectly the hollow feeling inside of him.

"Tsunade-sama," he said, not trusting his voice to utter more sounds than that polite acknowledgement.

She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly, a faint charge of energy moving from the point of contact to Iruka's senses. He felt immediately more awake and fully rested, and the pain became sharper in response, deeper. He didn't know if he should thank her or be angry at Tsunade for it.

She regarded him in silence, waiting for Iruka to break it.

"How long-" he began, trailing off confused at the raspy sound of his voice. He tried again, clearing his throat. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Not much," she answered, "just a couple of hours. I thought it best to wake you up. You were screaming."

Of course, that accounted for the odd feeling in his throat and the pounding in his head. He couldn't remember the dream but it wasn't difficult to guess what it had been about. He imagined he had many more nights to dream about Kakashi's death from now on.

"Have you already sent someone to retrieve his body, Tsunade-sama?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. I will shortly, but I just-"

She had cared for him, and she was grieving. It wasn't difficult to see; in spite of how they treated each other, one had to be blind not to see the affection between Kakashi and Tsunade. She cared for all her shinobi, but there were a few who had a special place in her regard and Kakashi had been one of them.

The entire village was going to grieve him.

"I want to go with the retrieval team," Iruka heard himself say, knowing there was a reason Tsunade had not sent the team yet.

"I knew you were going to say that," she said, looking at him gravelly. "I don't think it's a good idea, but I was sure you would ask for it."

It wasn't a good idea, it was a terrible one. The last thing Iruka needed now was to see Kakashi's body and put together all the events that had lead to his death. He could live in denial until the body was retrieved and brought back to Konoha, forever if they didn't manage to find it.

But then, that would be the easy way out.

Iruka wanted to see. Wanted to imprint in his memory the little mistakes which had cost Kakashi his life, wanted to burn them alongside those last spiteful words he had said to Kakashi. It was only fair that he also suffered for breaking the rules.

"I have to," he simply said.

"You're going to punish yourself for it enough already, Iruka," she said softly, taking his hands between hers and gripping them tightly. "It wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it?" Iruka asked incredulously, all the devastation he was feeling etched on his face when he looked up at Tsunade. "Is just a coincidence that the only time I didn't say goodbye to Kakashi he goes and gets himself killed?"

"Nobody blames you for it."

"They should."

There was nothing Tsunade had to say to that and Iruka was glad she didn't utter any platitudes or trite clichés. "There is a reason you have the retrieval team on hold, Tsunade-sama. Either you send me with them or get ready to write me off as a missing nin the moment you step out of my house, because I'm going to look for Kakashi's body."

She nodded sadly. "They depart in an hour. Be ready at the West Gate."

Tsunade stood up and cast a last, sad look at Iruka. "It really wasn't your fault, Iruka," she said before leaving, not waiting for an answer.

Iruka stood up from bed and got ready to depart with the retrieval team, avoiding his own reflection on the mirror the entire time.

He wished he could believe Tsunade's words.

…

"Ok, we're ready to move him."

Kankuro looked at Kakashi's body sprawled on the ground, naked as the day he was born and covered almost head to toe in ink. He had followed Yuriko's moves closely as she undressed him carefully, closing Kakashi's wounds gently and injecting some kind of antidote in his bloodstream.

She had said that was insufficient to do anything but give her the time to perform the jutsu she had talked about, and Kankuro had no reason to doubt her. She was a good medic-nin, though nowhere close to Tsunade's or Sakura's level.

Then she had begun the jutsu, covering Kakashi's body with her flowery script and making complicated hand seals. Kankuro had never admired her more than in that precise instant, though he didn't understand what she had done.

"This was the easy part," she said, her voice heavy with tiredness. She had used an incredible amount of chakra in the jutsu and Kankuro was surprised she had not passed out at the end of it.

"What did you do?" He couldn't help but being curious and in awe of the unassuming and quiet shinobi who had been with him for the past week.

"I put his body in stasis, that's the curse seal. Then I sent his consciousness deep inside his memories, so he won't feel the pass of time or the healing process once it begins. It's going to be extremely painful, and so is breaking the curse seal afterwards. If I didn't do that, chances are he'd get into shock and die anyway."

It didn't sound that bad, and at least it would give them the time to bring help.

"I simplified the explanation," she said when Kankuro expressed his disbelief that she had considered herself unable to do it before. "The problem with the mind jutsu wasn't that I couldn't do it, but that I shouldn't. It's one of the strongest forms of genjutsu, and the easy part is pulling him under. He will need to resurface by himself; most of them never do even after their bodies are healed, there has to be a pretty strong reason waiting for them to come back. Also, I need to reapply the curse seal ever few hours, and I run the risk of draining my own chakra before we get help, so we better get a move now."

Kankuro nodded mutely, understanding what she was saying, and summoned two of his puppets. They lifted Kakashi's body gently off the ground and began walking towards the safe house.

…


End file.
